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CIH 140
INSCRIPTION INFORMATION
| Language | Ancient South Arabian » Sabaic » Central Middle Sabaic | ||
| Script | Ancient South Arabian | ||
| Script typology | Monumental writing | ||
| Text direction | Right-to-left | ||
| Text appearance | Recessed | ||
| Execution technique | Incision | ||
| Chronology |
| ||
| Textual typology | Dedicatory text |
TEXT
1 [... ...]rm mqtwy ʾls²rḥ [Yḥ]—
2 ḍb Kbr ʾqynm hqny s²ym-hmw Rmn ḏ-ʿlm—
3 n ḏ-ʾks²r ḏn ṣlmn b-ḏt s¹ʿd-hw Rmn mhr—
4 gt w-ʾs¹by ṣdqm b-ʾrḍ (Qtbn)( w)-Ḥmyrm w-Rdm[n w]-
5 bn Ḥḍrmn b-ḫlf[ Wʿln b]-ʾrḍ Ḫwln b-kn [s²w]—
6 ʿw mrʾ-hmw ʾls²rḥ[ Yḥḍb] Kbr ʾqynm w-[hṯ]—
7 bw tʾmnm l-s²ym-h[mw Rm]n hqnyw ḏn ṣl[m]—
8 [n] Rmn s¹yb-hmw bn mḥr(mn )(S¹)lym w-b-ḏt [hw]—
9 fy-hmw Rmn b-kl ʾmlʾ[ s¹tmlʾ]y (b)-(ʿm)-hw w-l-[s¹ʿ]—
10 d-hmw rḍ[w ]lb-hw-w-hẓy[ mrʾ]-h[w ʾl]s²rḥ w-[b-ḏ]—
11 t s²ft-hw Rmn b-mqmtm b-kn ʾb-hw Ḏn[m Y]—
12 ẓfr ws¹ṭ ḍr Ḥmyrm k-ʾl ys¹fhn l-hw w-[y]—
13 rtʾyn l-hw s²[w]ftm l-(ʾb) Ḏnm w-l-ḏt n[ʿ]—
14 [m]t w-tnʿmn l-ʾdm-hw bny Bḥrm
| Reading after Müller on the basis of his new photo. | |
| 11 | mqmtm is one of the rare occurrences of scriptio defectiva for the plural mqymt (cf. Stein 2003 a: 78, fn. 275). |
TRANSLATIONS
| English | |
1 [... ...]rm mqtwy of ʾls²rḥ Yḥ- 2 ḍb kbr of ʾqynm dedicated to their Patron Rmn ḏ-ʿlm- 3 n ḏ-ʾks²r this statue, because Rmn granted him enemy casualties 4 and captives in abundance in the land of Qatabān, Ḥimyar and Rdmn, and 5 from the Hadramites in the region of Wʿln in the land of Ḫwln, when they did 6 service for their lord ʾls²rḥ Yḥḍb kbr of ʾqynm; so they 7 returned expressions of gratitude to their Patron Rmn (and) dedicated this statue 8 to Rmn as their gift from the sanctuary S¹lym; and because Rmn 9 gratified them with all the favours they both sought from Him, and so that may He 10 grant them the satisfaction of his heart and the goodwill of his lord ʾls²rḥ, and because 11 Rmn promised him, in His power, when his father Ḏnm Y- 12 ẓfr was engaged in war against Ḥimyar, that He would not be neglectful towards him, but would 13 show Himself as a protection to him, namely his father Ḏnm, and because it has been 14 and will be favourable for his vassals the banū Bḥrm. |
OBJECT INFORMATION
| Support type | Artefact » Base » Of statue with dedicatory inscription |
| Material | Stone |
| Dimensions | h. 60, w.50 |
| Link to object record |
ORIGIN AND PROVENANCE
| Modern site | Shibām-Kawkabān |
| Ancient site | S²bm |
| Geographical area | al-Maḥwīt |
| Country | Yemen |
| Found | Reemployed. In modern times |
| Archaeological context | Religious context: Temple of Rmm ḏ-ʿlmn ḏ-ʾks²r |
| Link to site record |
CULTURAL NOTES
The text reports a military campaign under ʾls²rḥ Yḥḍb Kbr ʾqynm, before his accession to the Sabaean throne. Ḥimyar is by then enemy of Sabaʾ. We are at the end of the 1st century AD, and this is the earliest episode of a war which will see Sabaʾ and dhu-Raydān engaged against Qataban, Ḥaḍramawt and Radmān in the first half of the 2nd century.
First occurrence of a divinity Rmn - whose name is etymologically linked by Müller to the pomegranate tree. Interestingly, the statue is brought to Rmn as a gift from a temple S¹lyn, possibly located in the land where the war campaign was conducted. Müller maintains that S¹lyn could be the sanctuary of the Qatabanian god ʿm ḏ-Mbrwm (RES 3958, 6-7).
BIBLIOGRAPHY
| Garbini 1973 b: 431-434, pl. I | Garbini, Giovanni 1973. Un nuovo documento per la storia dell'antico Yemen. Oriens Antiquus, 12: 143-163. |
| Beeston 1974: 425-427 | Beeston, Alfred F.L. 1974. Sabaean Marginalia II. Annali dell'Istituto Orientale di Napoli, 34/3: 421-428. |
| Müller, Walter W. 1974 d: 413-420 | Müller, Walter W. 1974. CIH 140. Eine Neuinterpretation auf der Grundlage eines gesicherteren Textes. Annali dell'Istituto Orientale di Napoli, 34/3: 413-420. |
| Stein 2003 a | Stein, Peter 2003. Untersuchungen zur Phonologie und Morphologie des Sabäischen. (Epigraphische Forschungen auf der Arabischen Halbinsel, 3). Rahden: Marie Leidorf GmbH / Westf.: Marie Leidorf GmbH. |